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Developed with input from the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Agriculture, EPA’s new proposal seeks public input on annual volume requirements for renewable fuels in all motor vehicle gasoline and diesel produced or imported by the United States in 2014.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released a new renewable energy data book that assesses U.S. energy statistics for 2012, including renewable electricity, worldwide renewable energy development, clean energy investments, and data on specific technologies.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., introduced the Water Protection and Reinvestment Trust Fund Act of 2013. It would provide a protected source of revenue to help states replace, repair, and rehabilitate critical wastewater treatment facilities.

A recent EPA report shows that blood mercury levels in women of childbearing age has decreased by 34 percent from a survey conducted in 1999-2000 to follow-up surveys conducted from 2001 to 2010. Additionally, the percentage of women of childbearing age with blood mercury levels above the level of concern decreased by 65 percent.

As long as the federal government has no viable alternative to Yucca Mountain for storing nuclear waste, power plant operators should not be charged annual fees for the cost of that disposal, the judges ruled.

The Arizona Corporation Commission voted 3-2 to approve a monthly charge by the utility Arizona Public Service Co. of 70 cents per kilowatt, on customers who install rooftop solar panels after Jan. 1, 2014.

"The key provisions of this settlement will eliminate overflows of raw sewage in neighborhoods that have for too long been subject to these contaminated overflows," said Acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General Robert G. Dreher.

Texas has a reputation for just about anything other than environmental activism, but a public hearing held Nov. 7 by EPA was crowded with people patiently waiting their three-minute turn at the microphone.